


Gem's Origin

by AuserOf



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Gen, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Tragedy, anger issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-28
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:53:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23699587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuserOf/pseuds/AuserOf
Summary: With The Great Diamond Authority dismantled and his own problems worked out Steven is finally ready to leave Beach City and the Gem society behind. All of this is thrown into question when a remnant of the Gem's origins comes back to haunt them. Set just after the ending to Steven Universe Future.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 9





	1. Intro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An introduction to the main conflict and the world.
> 
> My name's Aaron and this is my first attempt at a real fanfiction! I'm really excited to share this story as it's one I've had in my mind for a long time now. This story delves into where exactly the Gems came from and how that relates to the events of the whole series. I hope you stick around for all the reveals this story has to offer and any thoughts are appreciated!

It's a busy day on Homeworld. With two years since the start of Era 3 and Stevens's victory over White Diamond, her expansion of their “perfect” empire is no longer a priority. Not only this but the Diamonds are actively trying to reverse all the damage they’ve caused. Things are changing for the better and Gems all across the homeworld are finally having their quality of life improved instead of being seen as a tool. New infrastructure is being built along with an open society plan modeled after Earth.  
Blue steps into Yellow’s room with a serene look on her face.  
“Ah, Blue! Perfect timing! I was just about done designing the new structures to be built in facet 5 and wanted your approval.” Yellow exclaimed with a smile.  
“We’ll have time for that later Yellow. For now, I came to check how you felt about the whole… Steven situation. I know it was a few months ago but… well, I’m just checking in is all.” Blue said with a more concerned look.  
Yellow Diamond's face gets much more serious “I appreciate your concern Blue but I think it’s time Pink Diamond stops haunting our past and... we can all move onto the future.”  
Blue turns to leave but gives a last glance “Well if you need it I can always help you, I’m here for you Yellow.” she says with a little smile before walking out.  
About an hour later White Diamond calls for an Emergency meeting of the Diamonds.  
Blue and Yellow both rush to a stadium-sized room with four chairs pointing inward. Darkness swallows the corners of the massive room. When they open the door they find White Diamond sitting in the largest of the thrones looking at a large screen.  
“White, why did you call us here? This room hasn’t been used since the Gem War.” Said Yellow with a confused look on her face.  
Both Blue and Yellow step in and the door closes behind them leaving only the light of a monitor to illuminate the stern look on Whites Diamond's face.  
“We haven't been threatened in 1000’s of years. We didn’t ever need to meet here. Take your seats, this requires our full attention.” said White.  
Both Blue and Yellow take their seats and Blue turns to White. “We’re still not sure why we’re meeting like this.”  
White Diamond turns the screen she was looking at to face Blue and Yellow revealing a cluster of entities picked up just outside the Galaxy.  
“I’m still not certain what it is but it appears to be a massive fleet of ships and they're not ours. We don’t even know if they're hostile or not,” said White.  
Both Yellow and Blue look at the screen with a look of horror upon their faces.  
“...and whoever they are, a small number of them are headed towards Earth,” said White.


	2. First Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven has a mysterious encounter while on the road.

Meanwhile on Earth  
" ...Don't be scared, it's the afternoon, Don't be scared but pretty soon we'll be, Sadie Killer and the Suspects…! " sang Steven as he barreled down a lone road with nothing but his car headlights illuminating ahead.  
He noticed a small gas station just off the side of the road and thought. "I think it's about time I stopped and had a good stretch."  
Steven parked his car and started refilling the gas leaving his phone behind before walking inside.  
He had an almost tired but satisfied look on his face. Inside the convenience store sat a bored-looking clerk reading a magazine.  
Steven walked over to the counter with a big smile on his face. "Hi! Where do you keep the drinks?" asked Steven excitedly  
The guy behind the counter slowly put down his magazine with an annoyed expression before gesturing towards the back and going back to reading his magazine.  
Slightly dissuaded Steven says "Thanks…" and heads to get himself something to drink.  
"I'll just get this," Steven said, handing the guy behind the counter a water. "Uh… yeah sure." Said the guy as he rang Steven up. While he was doing so Steven looked out the window onto the black sky surrounding the fluorescent store hearing the faint buzzing of the lights as he did so. He swore he could have seen something moving out there but his attention was quickly drawn away when the guy behind the counter said  
"That'll be 2.99, um… cash or credit, sir?" While he paid Stevens attention was once again drawn to the window where he could his phone light up with a notification in his car.  
With the same enthusiasm Steven entered with he grabbed his stuff and said "Thanks and have a good day!" before walking out into the blackness of the night.  
Steven hastily approached his car which had finished being filled up at this point and sat down closing the door behind him.  
"3 separate calls from Pearl" Steven muttered to himself "I haven't even been gone a whole day."  
Before Steven could even think another thought the door to his car was ripped off and Steven was thrown out landing hard on the asphalt. Steven managed to get his head up to get a good look at his attackers. They were two hulking humanoid figures about 9 feet tall slowly approaching but with a much larger upper body covered head to toe in rusty metal blending them into the night. No visible gem to be found on them.  
"Look at this one. Disgusting half-breed. I can't believe we found him out here. Are you sure this one is salvageable?" Said the one on the right. It was holding what appeared to be a tablet aimed directly at Steven. The other to the left holding a large metal rod stated "We'll have more info when we bring it back. Now put that down and help me get this one in a bubble."  
Steven quickly got to his feet glowing just slightly pink pushing away the darkness surrounding him and his expression changed showing his anger.  
"I don't know who you are but I think I've had it with you old Homeworld Gems trying to take me out. Just let me be!" before launching himself at the one with the tablet swinging with all the force he could muster.  
The creature attempted to brace itself but was knocked several feet into the bushes.  
Steven turned to the other creature, glowing pinker than before. Its metal rod was now glowing a bright blue at the top with conductive looking lines running throughout.  
"Come on then!" roared the creature.  
Steven lunged at it was a look of rage, before being struck in the side with the rod sending him careening to the right.  
"Ahhh…" Steven said sitting up with one hand on the side he was struck. Moving his hand away revealed the same conduit like blue lines slowly fading from the point of impact.  
The creature despite only its eyes showing through the metal helmet had an expression of shock. It said "What?! You should have been destabilized from that!"  
Steven got back up to his feet the look of pain giving way to anger once again  
He again lunged at the creature and with the shock, it hesitated. Steven landed a clean strike in its stomach leaving it lying a crater in the asphalt knocked out.  
Steven's expression quickly changed back to one of calm and his skin tone returned to its normal non-pink hue.  
Steven then quizzically turned towards the store where he could see the clerk wide-eyed, mouth open, and then run off into the back of the store yelling when he locked eyes with Steven.  
Steven gave a shrug before getting back into his car, his phone still sitting on the dashboard.  
Picking it up he called Pearl to see if she had maybe called him because of those two creatures he fought.  
No response and Steven started to get a bit more worried. He called again and no response.  
Suddenly he got a call from Peridot. "Steven!" she said, sounding a bit concerned. "Peridot!" Steven said excitedly with a smile. "I'm glad to hear from you again so soon. I already miss you guys! You won't believe what just happened..."  
"Steven as much as I really, really miss you...Garnet, Pearl and Amethyst were just taken by these big metal guys!"


	3. Preperations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven prepares for a perilous journey

"What!? Peridot what exactly happened?!" Steven yelled into the mouthpiece of the phone.  
"Welllll, Pearl called us at Little Homeworld asking for our backup but we got there just in time to see them bubble Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst and take off in these… steel sorta pod things."  
"Peridot, stay right there. I'm coming back to Beach city and we are getting them back."  
As Steven hung up the phone he anxiously looked down at the still unconscious creature realizing he wouldn't have time to properly handle this situation.  
He hopped into his car one door missing and all and took off driving back to where he came from.  
Steven drove all throughout the night, the blackness eventually breaking into the orange glow of a newly rising sun. Steven couldn't think about dawn's light at this point, as he was too anxious about the current situation.  
Thinking about whatever these creatures were and what they wanted to do to his friends made him push the car to its limit, speeding down the road as fast as he could until he could eventually see Beach City once more.  
It was mid-afternoon by the time Steven came to a screeching halt just outside the Gem Temple. There were multiple holes just on the outside of the House.  
Steven immediately stepped out of his car since the door was missing and ran inside.  
His look of horror only intensified when he saw the House in shambles on the inside. Everything that could be turned over and searched had been and multiple scorch marks and holes suggest a fight went down.  
Steven slowly walked through his former home, careful not to touch a thing almost as if he was in a museum.  
Just then the door swung open revealing Peridot with a worried look.  
"Steven!" Peridot ran with tears running down her face hugging Steven whose expression softened as he hugged her back.  
Bismuth and Lapis awkwardly stepped through what was left of the door frame giving a friendly wave.  
"Steven I feel like you were just here." Said Bismuth as she gave a hearty laugh. She still had a somewhat concerned look on her face but she was clearly trying to lighten the mood.  
"Steven it's good to see you," said Lapis calmly.  
"I don't even know what I would do if all of you guys were taken," said Steven. Suddenly he got wide-eyed and with an expression of shock. "Wait! Where's my dad?!"  
Steven ran up the stairs to his old room to find nothing but more damage and Greg nowhere in sight.  
The rest of the Gems followed behind shortly afterward. "He's fine. He was a bit hurt from the attack but he's currently resting at Little Homeworld," said Bismuth  
Visibly relieved but exhausted Steven takes a seat on the edge of the bed and puts his head in his hands.  
"I was so excited to start this new life of mine. The Diamonds are ruling peacefully, Gems have been successfully integrated into Earth culture. I did everything right. Everyone looks up to me but I became a danger to those I cared most about only a few months ago. I think I can control my… anger but… going into a real conflict with these issues, I might be more of a danger than a help to you guys."  
Lapis, Peridot, and Bismuth crouch around Steven.  
"As much as I don't want another war, this is our home and we need to fight for it. We need to fight for the people we care about. I wasn't ready when you needed me when the Diamonds were still a threat but I'm ready now." Said Lapis with a stern but comforting look putting one hand on his shoulder.  
"This isn't like Homeworld where we at least have an idea of what we're dealing with. We need your leadership here Steven. I know you can be better than Rose was." Said Bismuth placing a hand on Stevens' knee with a similar expression to Lapis's.  
"Steven, I think you're pretty great." Said Peridot placing a hand on his other shoulder and with a large smile.  
Steven let out a slight chuckle with a bit of a smile returning to his face he stood up reinvigorated. The other Gem expressions shifted to a more positive one.  
"I checked our scanners back at Little Homeworld and it seems that ship is part of a massive fleet. I have a ship but I haven't done maintenance since Homeworld warps were installed," said Bismuth  
"Then let's go, we've got no time to lose," said Steven  
The four of them quickly headed to Little Homeworld.  
Once they got there Steven said, "You guys go on ahead, I need to tell my dad what's going on."  
"Well...ok but don't take too long, you said it yourself that we don't have that much time," said Bismuth before walking with Peridot and Lapis further into Little Homeworld.  
As he walked further into the compound every Gem he passed gave a wave and a big smile and he gave one right back.  
Steven walked into the infirmary where he could still distinctly remember healing countless Gems here. It was a blue building with a pink roof seated at the far left corner of Little Homeworld. Glass windows lined the 3 floors but the reflected sun made it too difficult to see inside. Steven walked in and immediately noticed how empty the building was compared to when he was here healing Gems. The first floor was mostly dark too with the walls lined with empty beds. He made his way to the second floor where he saw Greg lying in one of those beds.  
"Schtu-ball! Oh I was so worried something had happened to you," said Greg  
Steven ran to his dad's side. "Dad are you ok?"  
"I must look pretty banged up but your old man's fine."  
"Dad, I know I just got back but I think I might need to leave again. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl were taken by those same creatures that did this to you."  
Greg gave a soft smile and said. "I know. When you're up there on some alien ship just remember I'm here and I love you."  
Steven smiled with a few tears going down his face and hugged him.  
Before he left he made sure to heal Greg's injuries.  
Steven was running to where Bismuth kept her ship when Jasper stepped out from behind a building causing him to practically run into her.  
"There's a fight happening. I'm coming with you, my Diamond," said Jasper.  
"Jasper, I need you here. Since Bismuth, Lapis, Peridot, and I are all leaving Little Homeworld I've got no one else to defend it if more of those creatures show up."  
"This is an actual threat I can defend you against though!" said Jasper with a hint of excitement in her voice.  
Steven's face became a bit more somber. "Please, I don't want to see any more Gem's hurt if I can help it. This is supposed to be a safe haven from that kind of stuff."  
Jasper let out a hmph and begrudgingly said: "Fine, my Diamond."  
Looking a bit relieved he said "Thank you. It means a lot to me." before running off again.  
As he was moving he texted Connie where he was going as he had no more time for goodbyes.  
"Ah, taking your sweet time now? Well, either way, the ship was in a pretty poor state but I think I got it working," said Bismuth as Steven showed up out of breath.  
"Oh *heavy breathing* good to hear."  
Bismuth dusted off her hands before saying "C'mon, let's get a move on."  
Lapis, Peridot, and Bismuth walked into the old Ruby ship they had set out in front of the storage building.  
Steven stepped in shortly behind them taking a seat at the head controls.  
"It's about time we save our friends," he said before taking off.


	4. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven finds out who was behind his first encounter

The bright colors of Earth were quickly and suddenly ripped from view giving way to a starry sky. Some of the stars were pink and others were a deep gold but all of them were surrounded by the endless void of space.  
Steven pushed the ship's speed even further towards Bismuth’s coordinates, feeling the reality of the situation really set in.  
Everyone sat in silence for a few minutes knowing the likely fight that lay ahead of them.  
Lapis eventually broke the silence by saying “I haven't seen the stars from space since the Diamonds were still in power. It makes them feel… more peaceful.” with a slightly wonderous expression.  
Steven turned back to face Lapis giving a slight smile before continuing to push forward.  
“We’re here,” Steven said as the ship slowed to a crawl. They could see it, a massive dark dreadnaught stretching an incredible length completely dwarfing their ship.”  
“This can’t be right. I just checked the scanners about 30 minutes ago and there were at least a few dozen ships here,” said Bismuth with a confused look.  
“Wait, check it again. Where did they go?” Steven said, turning to Bismuth with a bit of confusion and shock.  
Bismuth checked her monitor on her control panel frantically flipping through pages of data before saying “I can’t find them. Wherever they went they’re no longer in this galaxy.”  
“Well, we’re out of time and running out of options. We’ll start our search here.” Steven said with a determined expression.  
“Well, what are we going to do? We can’t just walk in through their front door,” said Peridot.  
“Your metal powers are still working right?” said Steven  
“Yeah but I can’t bring that whole ship down,” said Peridot gesturing to the massive dreadnaught outside the window.  
“Maybe you can give us an alternate entrance through the side. One they wouldn’t expect.”  
Peridot’s face lit up and began giggling a bit.  
Steven smiled and sat back down at the controls.  
The ruby ship sped up just a bit, getting right next to the dreadnought's silently looming hull.  
“Alright Peridot do your thing,” said Steven with a confident smile.  
“Here we go then. Hrrrrrrrrrrrmmmm!!!” yelled Peridot as a massive chunk the size of the Ruby ship was torn out leaving the air to rush in.  
Steven's face turned to panic when he realized the problem with putting a giant hole in the side of the dreadnaught. He quickly steered the ship to plug the hole.  
The 4 of them looked out the window to see where they ended up.  
They were in a tight narrow hallway with barely enough light to see the dark and rusted metal lining the walls.  
Turning the ship so its entrance faced the hole they stepped out onto the cold metal floor.  
They chose a direction walking from one dim hanging light to the next in identical-looking hallways. Pillars jutted out from the walls in a sharp fashion but besides that, there was little to no decoration.  
It was very silent, so silent Steven could hear his own heartbeat and was afraid to breathe too deeply.  
The weight of the atmosphere was crushing with dark and dreary walls.  
They carefully and eventually made their way to an engine room. There was no sign of any creatures.  
Massive steel pistons worked tirelessly next to countless machines and furnaces. The deafening noise was a stark contrast to the previous hallways.  
The 4 of them looked up in awe as the sheer size of the room made it feel like they were outside. As if the sky was clogged with industrial machines.  
Steven signaled for them to keep moving across the catwalk. It was suspended at a height so high none of them could see the bottom with only darkness taking its place with even more machines lining walls all the way down.  
It felt cramped despite the room’s size. Everything was packed for efficiency.  
Once they made their way to the end of the room they found themselves in more identical hallways and the noise of the machines softened as they pushed onward.  
Despite the distance, they had covered they hadn’t encountered a single life form.  
“Steven, this is starting to weird me out. I was ready for a big fight but this place is empty,” whispered Bismuth.  
Steven looked back and gave a thoughtful look at the walls which surrounded them.  
“We have to find the main control room. There has to be someone who can give us information there.” Steven said sternly.  
As they pushed onward they could hear the sounds of unified chanting ahead coming from an open doorway.  
Just then they heard 3 loud thuds behind them and Steven had barely enough time to turn around and see 3 more of those same creatures this time wearing pitch-black smooth armor pull out the large metal rods and rush them down. The tall thin hallways made them appear even larger than before.  
Steven watched as all three of them swung their glowing blue rods in unison poofing Lapis, Peridot, and Bismuth before they were even done fully turning around.  
Steven let out a yell turning Pink and summoning his shield but one of the creatures quickly swung at Steven. He was able to block it but he skidded back through the open door into a large room still standing.  
Steven quickly ran to the door frame only for a sliding door to fall down blocking him.  
His skin tone turned normal as tears ran down his face and he banged on the door yelling “Lapis, Bismuth, Peridot, please, no!!”  
Suddenly he heard a booming but energetic voice.  
“Steven! It's so nice to finally meet this new form of yours!”  
Steven turned around getting a good look at his surroundings. There were multiple platforms that were high above him and countless numbers of those creatures were standing on them peering down at him. They were all silent and so was the room. There was one platform directly opposing the door where only one of them stood. It felt almost like a courtroom. The lone creature standing on the opposing platform was noticeably more slender than its comrades and its armor was a colorful shade of green like an emerald. Looking up showed a high ceiling maintaining the same design as the hallways.  
“My name is Von and... ” it said as it took off its helmet revealing a steel metal face smiling down at Steven. Its neck consisted of many little rods whirring and moving. Its face looked like individual pieces stuck together being moved by metal rods inside its skull but it still maintained a human-looking face. “...welcome aboard a ship of The Forge! I’ve heard a lot about...”  
“Where are my friends!!?” Steven yelled angrily interrupting the creature. Turning pink he still had tears running down his face.  
Von’s eyes sharpened while still smiling making a small mechanical whirring sound. “Rude. What I was trying to say is that you’re a big deal in this Universe, Steven, whether you realize by how much or not.”  
“I don’t care about that stuff, just give me my friends back!!” yelled Steven, glowing even pinker and his expression becoming more enraged.  
“Then what would have been the point in taking them?” said Von while tilting his head to the side and giving a pouty expression. “No, that would have defeated the purpose of luring you here. After what you did to those two poor soldiers on Earth I thought it would be a lot easier to just take your weak friends while we were in the neighborhood. Steven, it's just been awful without you and the rest of the Diamonds here.”  
“What are you talking about?” said Steven a bit more calmly.  
Leaning down at Steven with a smug expression it said “We created your entire race. The Gems, all of them are because of us, because of Hephaistos. Although I guess you wouldn’t remember that...”  
“You're lying!” Steven stated.  
Von overly-dramatically put his hand to his chest and said: “It’s all very true. As I was saying, Hephaistos is not with us at the moment, may he live in all our dreams.” Getting into a more serious pose it said “I’m the one in charge right now enforcing his will and that’s to capture the Diamonds and any Gems dumb enough to try and stop us. We are finally taking back what is rightfully ours.”  
“Why do you need The Diamonds? Steven cried out.  
Von, looking a bit bored said "I think I've told you quite enough for now. We have plenty of time to teach you about your role in serving this great empire once I kill that human half of yours and take that Gem. Right now all you are is a cry baby with mommy issues.”  
Just then one of the soldiers with black smooth armor stepped out from behind Von with an Emerald bubble with Amethyst, Ruby, Sapphire, Pearl, Lapis, Bismuth, and Peridot’s Gem in it.  
Holding it up Von had an egotistical smile “Ah, right on time. Thank you stealth soldier #1342, oh, and congrats on those easy takedowns.”  
Steven then turned pink and swelled up to almost double his size summoning his shield once again leaping at Von tears streaming down his face with a furious expression.  
Von didn’t move a gear when the stealth soldier that had brought the Gems swung at Steven’s shield blocking his attempted attack.  
A moment later Steven used his free hand and swung right for the stealth soldier's stomach going right through it sending bolts and bits of scrap all over the deck behind it.  
Von’s eyes widened in shock as it watched the stealth soldier fall over dead with a cry of pain.  
Abandoning the bubble Von ran towards the exit behind him saying “Steven it was so nice catching up, once my soldiers take the Diamonds on Homeworld we can meet up again and have a bit better of a heart to heart. That is, of course, assuming that my soldiers don’t just kill you now.”  
Steven quickly tapped the top of the bubble, sending it to the Gem Temple just in time to block the blazing blue metal rods of dozens of those creatures jumping to the platform he was on to attack. These ones were different, having bladed edges, something that could surely kill a human.  
Steven strained under the force being brought to one knee before knocking them all to the floor below with a burst of pink energy.  
He quickly jumped down to the floor with a loud thud, no longer crying or angry, just focused he took a steady stance and smashed through the sliding door in a single strike. As he did so the soldiers he knocked down managed to get to their feet. One of the soldiers wearing solid golden armor said “You’re a weakling and a fool to come here and try and fight us. The might of Homeworld doesn’t even come close to the power of The Forge. Not anymore.” before charging Steven with terrifying speed for its size.  
Sensing the overwhelming odds of losing this fight even with his new Diamond powers he took off through the new hole in the door. Running down the hall retracing his steps he could hear the echoes of the dozens of soldiers behind him.  
He eventually found himself back in the engine room where he turned and used his shield to slice through the catwalk behind him leaving a massive gap and continued running, banging into and through pieces of machinery due to the close-quarters nature of the room. He turned back to see all the soldiers hopping over the hole he had made like it was nothing.  
Steven rolled his eyes and let out a sigh and kept on running. He then heard a blast behind him. Some of the soldiers were using their metal rods as blasters now and they were coming way too close. Steven made an effort to keep taking turns down different hallways to give them fewer opportunities to fire directly at him still managing to retrace his steps.  
He eventually found himself at the hole where the ship should have been but there was nothing but a smooth wall in its place.  
“C’mon, give me a break!” Steven shouted before the echo’s behind got him to push forward running once again down a new hallway.  
Steven thought to himself “I’m stuck on an alien ship with no hope of back up or obvious means of escape. If I don’t get back down to Earth the rest of my friends might never escape from that bubble and I’ll be killed.”  
Just then Steven heard a voice as he was running.  
“Ah, Steven I see you're having some fun with my guards. I took the liberty of sealing the hole you made in my beautiful dreadnought. You could have just used the front door, I had this whole big entrance planned and everything…” Von’s voice bounced through the halls mixing with the thuds of the soldiers' metallic footsteps.  
Steven thought to himself ” I’ve got to find an escape pod. I can’t keep going on like this much longer.”  
“Eh that's alright, I’ll just save it for your other Diamond friends. I’m sure they’ll love it.” Von continued saying in the intercom.  
“Shut up!!” Steven yelled, cracking the walls glowing a bit pinker.  
“My my what a temper on this one. what, was your mommy not there for you or something? Oh, Steven, I guess I just wouldn't understand, you just being so sensitive and all.” Von continued to tauntingly say.  
“I was raised by a loving family and that's what matters!” Steven continued to yell as he pushed onward.  
“You mean your Gem friends? They’re a tool, basically just a glorified weapon. Don’t even get me started on your pathetic dad.”  
Furious Steven pushed himself forward ignoring the taunt.  
“Steven, you too good to talk to me now or something? We were having so much fun though. I guess now’s as good a time as ever to tell you I disabled all the escape pods on this ship.”  
Steven looked up at the ceiling wide-eyed taking a second to stop.  
A shot rang out from behind hitting him in the back leaving a searingly painful reminder to keep moving.  
Steven kept passing by countless diverse rooms at top speed, some mapping rooms, armories, barracks, and more filled the inside of the ship when he ran past a much larger room that caught his eye. He distinctly got a glimpse of a bright red ruby ship inside the hanger contrasting the rusty steel pods it stood out completely.  
Steven stopped in his tracks to turn around to see a wall of those soldiers perfectly moving in sync carefully not colliding into one another.  
Steven summoned his shield just in time to block an organized barrage of fire. Slowly inching his way forward making sure to crouch so the shield all of his body he made his way to the door frame he had passed.  
The soldiers were slowly moving forward too, maintaining their fire.  
Steven managed to get to the door frame just before they managed to reach him and he made a break for the red ruby ship. The room was massive housing at least 100 ships. Steven noticed a few familiar Gem ships such as a Gem colony ship, but also noticed a few others, not of Gem design or Forge design. One of the walls in the massive hanger was missing seemingly leading to open space but the air pressure in the room was normal.  
There were a few members of the Forge wearing no armor revealing their steel mechanical bodies similar to Von, holding tablets up to various ships as he walked in. They had a ton of tiny moving metal rods in between all their limbs. Their fingers looked like those of a puppet made of metal.  
They looked up out of curiosity to see Steven running for his life with a slew of soldiers chasing behind him and they all in unison put their heads down back in their tablets.  
Steven managed to jump into the ship and close the door right before one of the soldiers took a swing at him instead, getting their weapon stuck in the door.  
The soldiers began slicing into the ship with their weapons as Steven ran to the controls.  
He frantically mashed the input to take off and as the ship slowly rose in the air it stuttered a bit from all the damage it had taken.  
“No! This has to work!” Steven cried out.  
Von’s voice once again broke over the intercom. “It was good meeting you Steven but I think it’s time we said our goodbyes. Smash the ship and kill him.”  
The ship then blasted off back into the endless void of space through the open hanger and Steven let out a sigh of relief and exhaustion with his skin tone turning back to normal.


	5. Devastation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stevens mental health deteriorates

Steven flew through space in the jittery ruby ship stressed beyond belief. There was a new issue. He had saved his friends but learned about a Homeworld's inevitable attack and needed to get there before something happened.  
Earth after what seemed an eternity came back into view. Steven noted how small it seemed now compared to when Pearl first took him to space.  
Entering the atmosphere Steven noticed he was coming in too fast. Steven desperately tried to stop or slow the ship but it had been too heavily damaged. With no other choices, Steven put up a bubble around himself and braced for impact, steering for just outside little Homeschool.  
The ship proceeded to crash with the loud shriek of tearing metal and ground being displaced.  
Smoke billowed from the crash site around him and that was the last sight Steven saw before passing out.  
Steven awoke in a bed in the infirmary in Little Homeworld to see Connie sitting by his side looking at the floor worried.  
When she saw his eyes open her face lit up in relief. She leaned down and gave him a hug in bed and said "Steven! I got your text and came as soon as I could but you were already gone. Greg's on his way too. What happened up there? Are you ok?"  
Steven then quickly sat up wide-eyed looking around frantically saying, "How long was I out? I don't have time to be here, I've got to get the rest of the Crystal Gems and head to Homeworld."  
"Woah, hold on you were just in a serious crash, you need some rest," Connie said with a concerned expression.  
Steven began glowing a bit pink and with a bit angrier of expression said, "I need to leave now!" He quickly put his hand up to his mouth, no longer glowing pink with a bit of surprise at his own reaction.  
"You're glowing pink again!? Steven, this is serious, you need to take care of yourself too," said Connie with an even more worried look.  
"I can take care of myself once this is finished," Steven said with a resigned look getting out of bed.  
The searing pain from being shot on the dreadnaught came rushing back all at once. "Ahhh..." Steven said, putting a hand on the injury. Lifting up that part of his shirt revealed that it was still red and seared having not fully healed yet.  
"Steven, your stress is affecting even your ability to heal. You need to slow down and take a minute to relax." pleaded Connie.  
While walking towards the stairs he said, "An alien race of some kind is trying to take the Diamonds. I've got to make sure it doesn't happen." with a serious expression.  
"At least let me come with you. I've got your back, really," said Connie seeing his refusal to rest.  
Steven turned back to face Connie. "You've got your college prep to get through, I wouldn't want to do that to you."  
"This is a big deal, I want to make sure you're ok."  
"I'm fine," Steven said unconvincingly.  
The two of them walked outside under the sun at its peak.  
"I managed to send the rest of the Gem's to the Temple but they're bubbled right now. We're going to need their help." Steven said.  
They made their way to the Temple. Once they got within view Steven said: "We were attacked only yesterday but it feels like it's been a lot longer than that."  
"This all happened so fast, I wish I knew about all this sooner," Connie said.  
Steven looked at her with a hopeful expression before saying "It's alright, I'll just fix this and we'll all forget this ever happened."  
Connie gave a slightly worried look back at Steven.  
They both entered inside and Connie looked all over the room, shocked at the damage but Steven walked right through it all to the Gem Temples door.  
He entered the Temples heart where so many corrupted Gems had been with only one bubble being there now. It was an emerald green color.  
Connie walked in shortly after to see the Crystal Heart of the Temple stretching endlessly above.  
Steven grabbed the massive bubble containing most of the Crystal Gems.  
Connie gave him a subtle nod and Steven broke the bubble.  
All of the Gems fell out and simultaneously began rising into the air reforming into who they are.  
"Steven, what happened? We were right behind you and then all of a sudden we're waking up here?" Bismuth said. Lapis, Peridot, and Bismuth then noticed the just forming Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl and hugged them before they even knew what was going on.  
The 3 of them then turned to Steven all giving him a group hug. "Thank you so much, I was terrified of what might happen. I was worried they got you too," said Lapis.  
"I missed you guys even though you were gone like a day!" Peridot said hugging Garnet with bubbly tears going down her face.  
"We missed you too," Garnet said smiling. She then turned to Steven and asked: "I'm glad to see you again even if it's under these circumstances."  
Pearl then said, "I was so worried about what might happen to you but I'm glad you got us back from whatever those things were."  
Amethyst chimed in saying "I'm sure you kicked their butts!"  
Steven looked a bit more relieved seeing his efforts paying off and said "Not exactly. They're called The Forge and they're after the Diamonds. I barely made it out of there. We've got to stop them before they take the Diamonds on Homeworld."  
Pearl looked to Garnet with a fearful expression. "Steven, I called you because The Diamonds warned us about them. They might have already come and gone…"  
Steven physically recoiled taking a step back and with a shocked expression began to glow pink again.  
The 6 of them looked at him with an expression of horror. "Oh no," Pearl said, putting her hand up to her mouth.  
"Steven, you're glowing again!?" Amethyst said with a hint of surprise and turmoil.  
Steven then took a more comfortable stance while still glowing pink and said  
"Yeah, but it's fine. This won't be like last time I promise. We'll just fix this little problem and forget about all this. Let's go, everyone, we gotta go save the Diamonds."  
Garnet firmly said "Steven, you need to stay here on Earth and take care of yourself. Let us handle this for once."  
Steven glowed even pinker and dawned a look of rage before saying "NOOOOO! I'M GOING TO FIX THIS!" in a shout that cracked the floor around them. Calming down just a bit he then said: "I'm going to Homeworld."  
"We can't let this get out of control. We're here for you, please." Garnet said in a much gentler voice.  
Connie came up behind him placing a hand on his shoulder saying "Listen to them Steven, we all care about you here." with a worried look.  
Steven pushed her hand away before taking off through the Gem Temple's door and back into the house. Continuing to run for the Homeworld warp in the Greenhouse he looked back to realize he had sealed the door behind him to the Gem Temple with a barrier. He couldn't shake the sense of deja vu as he stood on the warp pad.  
When he arrived what he saw scared and shocked him to his core. White Diamonds palace was in flames, the ground and structures around him had been toppled and cracked into rubble.  
The white marble was littered with the shards of Gems.  
Sitting among it all was a pink figure on her knees crying into her hands.  
Steven ran down the steps no longer glowing pink he could make it out to be Spinel.  
Coming to her side he put one hand on her shoulder and said: "Spinel, what happened!?"  
She looked up tears streaming down her face and hugged him before burying her face in his shirt and continuing to cry.  
"The Diamonds *sniff* they're gone!" Spinel said before bawling again. After a few minutes, she managed to compose herself a bit before saying "These metal guys came to attack and they destroyed everything! They could poof and shatter Gems as if it was nothing. Our armies didn't stand a chance and they said they wouldn't stop until they had the Diamonds! So they offered themselves up to stop the fighting. I hid and watched them get poofed Steven!" said Spinel before bursting into tears once again.  
The two of them sat there for a while, Steven holding Spinel as she cried. Eventually, red-eyed she stood up and looking down solemnly said: "I think I'll be ok…"  
"Spinel why don't you head back and have the Gems clean you up. We'll sort this all out." Steven said in a comforting and hopeful voice.  
He kept one hand on her shoulder as he walked her to the warp.  
"I'll be right behind you," Steven said with a smile.  
She gave a teary-eyed wave while smiling before warping away.  
Steven waited until the warp pad had fully deactivated before glowing pink doubling in size once again. Letting out a furious yell he stomped the ground with so much force it knocked over what was left of the Diamond palace and instantly shattered the warp pad.


	6. Breakdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven reaches his breaking point

Steven walked down the steps seething with rage. Every step he took cracked the ground below him even more.  
Once he got to the steps of the now missing Palace he let out a yell again simply pushing the rubble around him away.  
“This is just perfect!!!” Steven yelled out to the open air. He walked past the palace into the heart of what was left of the Gem city looking down pink and angry the whole time. The damage here was far less but destruction still surrounded him on all sides.  
No one was around. The only sound was the wind blowing through an empty walkway cross-section between the buildings.  
Steven got to his knees realizing the true scope of the assault. “First I let my family get captured! Then I almost lost Bismuth, Lapis, and Peridot because I wasn’t paying enough attention!”  
Steven got back to his feet and continued by saying, “I wasn’t strong enough to stop Von from just taking them away from me! I almost lost them all…” he said with a devastated expression.  
“I had to kill a living thing to get out of there! Everyone expects me to be this great savior of the galaxy but I broke down when Von said just the right things! Lying to me about making Gems, insulting my family!” Steven said slamming his hand into a nearby wall sending crumbling into pieces.  
“This was my one chance to make it all up!” he said, raising his hands gesturing to the city. “I couldn’t even do that right! Now The Diamonds are gone and Homeworld is in ruins because of me!”  
Just then Steven heard rustling all around him. Gems of all kinds of cuts began rising around him. Steven seeing the gems covered in ash and dust around him just reminded him of his failure.  
A topaz walked up to him, reaching up and placing a hand on his leg calmly saying, “We don’t blame you.”  
Steven took his head out of his hands frustrated before saying, “Well you should!” as he stormed off. As he walked taking massive strides due to his size he thought, “Von was right. I’m just a scared kid with mommy issues. No one needs me, The Crystal Gems were just being nice using my supposed pink outburst as an excuse to try and get me to stay home. They really just want me out of the picture and they’re right for wanting me gone.”  
Steven suddenly heard a voice behind him. “Steven! Wait!” Steven turned around to see Pearl running with Bismuth, Lapis, Peridot, Garnet, Amethyst and Connie out from a new ruby ship.   
“Just leave me alone!” Steven shouted angrily, sending a shockwave out that knocked them all to the ground.  
Connie looked up at Steven pushing forward struggling to get through the overwhelming force pushing her back “We’re in this together! I’m not giving up on you! None of us are!”  
Lapis then said “What happened on the beach wasn’t enough, you were still hurting, just doing a better job of hiding it over these months weren’t you?” while shielding her face with her arms struggling to stand and face Steven.  
All of them stood up and were slowly making their way to Steven pushing against the overwhelming force.  
Garnet making the most progress while walking towards Steven said “None of this is your fault! You’ve done so much for everyone here and we couldn’t be more grateful!”  
“I’m a failure! I failed all of you, I only got lucky when saving you guys from The Forge!” Steven said, tears starting to fall down his face.  
“You know that isn’t true!” yelled Amethyst.  
“You can’t keep pretending that these negative emotions aren’t there!” Garnet yelled.  
With that, the force stopped and Steven fell to his hands and knees crying.   
Steven with much less anger in his voice said “I don’t know if I can handle another problem like this.“ through the tears.  
All of them walked up to him and hugged him. “No one ever expected you to solve everything on your own,” Garnet said with a bit lighter of an expression.  
“You had so much anger about being dragged back into this whole gem business after finally getting your freedom but you repressed it for our sake,” said Pearl.  
Steven slowly shrank back down to his normal size while still glowing pink. He stood up wiping the tears from his eyes and said “You’re right. I need to accept that it's ok to feel these negative emotions, that I can’t fix everything. I’m done letting this control me.”  
A few moments of silence passed before Steven looked down at his still glowing pink hands and said “I...I can control this now.”   
Almost as if to prove this, his skin tone returned to normal and his expression returned to a calm state.  
The ground around them suddenly gave way from the strain of Steven’s breakdown and all of them fell. The shards of marble surrounded them as they plunged into the depths of Homeworld. Steven could see the silhouettes of thousands of Gems who had come out of the rock as he fell. All of this happened in an instant which was just too fast for Steven to react to and he hit the floor below hard, passing out.


	7. Dreams

Steven awoke inside the halls of a dark mansion. No lights could be found and the whole area was littered with ornate designs. Portraits lined the walls but Steven couldn’t make out the figures. The only natural light came from windows too fogged from rain to see through.  
Steven stood up and looked around confused before saying “Hello? Pearl, Connie, Peridot... anyone?” No one answered as there was no one to hear it. Through it, all an organ had been playing. It was a haunting melody that felt like it had been going on for Eons. It mixed with the sound of rainfall to give a sensation Steven could not describe with any Earthly language.  
Steven decided to follow this music to its source and see what was going on. As he walked the carpeted hallways he couldn’t help but feel small among it all. No rooms were to be seen, just endless hallways until he found himself in a library. The bookshelves stretched into the darkness above concealing how tall they really were. Steven walked closer to one of them only to realize every book here was unlabeled and just had varying degrees of colored covers. In the center of it all was a single open book with a pink cover. Steven walked up to the podium it was seated upon and saw that it was open to a blank page. Flipping through it revealed every page was in fact blank. Thinking little of it he continued on through the next door into another hallway. The music was getting louder so he must be getting closer.  
Steven found himself in a singular hallway leading to a door frame. Smoke billowed out of it blocking Steven from viewing what was inside. The library he had walked through was no longer there replaced by a barren wall. Nowhere to go but forwards.  
Steven walked towards the smokey door frame, each step felt like he was going further and further up a steep mountain.  
Barely able to move forward any further Steven reached out for the door frame pulling himself through the smog and he found himself in a cherry blossom forest. The hallway he had just come from was nowhere in sight; just more cherry blossoms. The music was gone as well. It was a bright and beautiful day wherever they were, a stark contrast to the rain Steven had been hearing for the past couple of minutes. An old man in a simple professor's jacket with a great white beard stood with his back turned to Steven, lightly holding up one of the branches. “Hello, Steven.” said the old man with a gentle but authoritative voice.  
Steven took a cautious step forward saying “Who are you?”  
The old man turned around revealing a wise and weathered face and he said “I believe you already know who I am. Although this is an interesting form you’re interpreting me as.” with a gentle smile. “I am Hephaistos.”  
Wide-eyed Steven fell back only to find himself back on his feet. “You're alive?”  
“Almost,” he replied with a chuckle.  
“You’re a shatterer! All of this is because of you! Von’s not actually the one in charge.” Steven said in an accusatory tone.  
Hephaistos gave another smile putting his hands politely behind his back before saying “Von is one of my finest creations I must say. Carrying out my will, I honestly see him as a son.” he gave a frown while looking up at the trees and said “I guess all of this is because of me isn’t it. I don’t think you understand just how true that really is.”  
Steven gave a determined expression summoning his shield and saying “Well if you're the one to blame I’m going to put a stop to all of this right now.”  
“No Steven, you're in the dream realm right now. My realm” said Hephaistos with a darker look on his face.  
Steven looked down at his shield and was surprised to realize he was simply holding a stick.  
“I didn’t bring you here because I wanted to fight you. That comes later. For now, I want you to understand what you're up against. I know you find it hard to believe but I made the Gems.”  
“No… that just can’t be right,” Steven said, shaking his head.  
“Where else could they have come from Steven? They aren’t organic like humans who evolved by a freak accident. Even you, a child, knows that.”  
Steven finally accepting the truth asks “Why did you do it then? Why did you create the Gems and the Diamonds? Why are you here now?”  
“Now there’s the question I’ve been waiting for,” said Hephaistos as his face lit up just a bit. “It’s certainly a long story.”  
“I started out in a group of beings that I consider to be my siblings. We were there when the universe started. We called ourselves the Pantheon and when the stardust settled into planets we went our separate ways to forge our own paths. I decided to build something, an entourage if you will. So I built the first Forge. Steel bodies and minds but they had free will and could think for themselves. They chose to serve me seeing my awe-inspiring greatness. I eventually built enough to act as a whole civilization and for a while we were one of the first, thriving in the infinite possibilities. Life eventually sprang up in the galaxies surrounding and war broke out for resources. We were completely unprepared as it was unprecedented at the time. Funny to look back now and think about that. To solve it, I did what I did best, build. I built the first injectors and used it on my Homeworld and the first Gem’s were born. They were to be the finest soldiers in the universe defending everything I had built thus far. A nearly invincible race of beings, who didn’t need to eat, sleep and could regenerate after most damage too. They always had weapons and were all born to be excellent fighters. I gave them free will as well and they chose to serve me understanding my greatness. I did make it in their nature to fight, however. Things were going excellent so I decided to move onto the offensive. World after world became mine and so did their resources benefiting my great civilization and its immortal defenders. I then had another idea. I wanted to build a group of elite perfect Gems. These Gems would serve a very different purpose than any other. I myself am an immortal being always tied to the dream realm. There’s a reason you have had so many Gem related dream experiences throughout your life, Steven. I imbued all Gems with a sort of connection to the dream realm even if they’ll never realize it. If my physical form were ever destroyed I would simply end up hopping from dream to dream of any living creature who had a thought in its head. I would be stuck there unable to interact with the physical world. Gem’s as an added ability to their combat prowess could fuse to become even stronger than the two parts. This was a tactic that proved useful in implementing on many occasions. When these perfect Gems I had planned fused they would create the most powerful Gem being in the universe, Graphene. The only being powerful enough to act as a vessel for me if my physical form were destroyed. If you couldn’t have guessed by now I made these perfect Gem’s with my own two hands instead of using an injector. It took me over a few millenniums but the Diamonds were eventually created. That’s why White Diamond is able to channel Gem’s through her, so she could channel me from the dream realm. Yellow Diamond acted as the strength, Blue Diamond acting as the emotional core and Pink Diamond acting as the heart of it all. They were all flawless and perhaps to a fault. The other Gems began to see them as the perfect beings instead of me. Eventually, it came to a head when the Diamonds led an attack against me and the rest of The Forge for their independence. Unprepared to deal with our own army we were beaten and were forced into hiding. Ironically they were the ones to destroy my physical form during the conflict. The Diamonds successful in their revolution lead all the Gems to a new planet to start their own society. Since it's in the nature of all Gem’s to invade and fight, that's just what the Diamonds began doing, using my injectors to expand their empire. With my physical form destroyed I needed to rely on my remaining Forge to do my bidding, still loyal to me after all that had happened. I chose a successor among them, Von to carry out my will while I was stuck here. Using what little power I had left I erased any memory of me and The Forge completely from the minds of all Gem’s, even the Diamonds so they would never come looking to finish us off. We built up our strength in the shadows bidding our time to strike back in revenge and take back what's rightfully mine. That Steven is what you are up against.”  
Steven just sat there in shock processing the insane amount of information just dumped on him.   
“There was something I never truly understood though. Gem’s were specifically built to stay permanent, never changing in their roles yet your mom was able to change her Gem’s nature from one of endless conflict to one of fighting for peace. I came here to see where it first started.” said Hephaistos as he sat on a tree stump Steven could have sworn wasn’t there before.   
“I had to see where Pink Diamond changed from a conqueror to a preserver. Her ideology spread almost like an infection. First, she recruited the Gem’s on her colony and she later passed it to you. You did more than she ever could, spreading this ideology to not only the Diamonds but most of the Gem’s on Homeworld as well. How did you change the Diamonds Steven?”  
Steven then looked around them to see there were no more cherry blossoms. Just miles and miles of tree stumps in every direction.  
“They were suffering in silence. When trying to build their perfect empire they sacrificed their own personalities in order to do so. The same is probably why the Gem’s rebelled against you in the first place.” Steven exclaimed.  
Hephaistos sat there for a second scratching his beard quizzically. “Hmmm, then the next time around when I build them I’ll make sure they can’t disobey me instead of giving them a choice. Thank you, Steven, you’ve been a great help.”  
“No wait…” but before Steven could finish his sentence the ground in the distance began to fall away into the void and it was approaching them fast.  
“I’ll just destroy your mind while you're in my realm and have The Forge come pick up your brain dead body,” said Hephaistos before turning to dust leaving Steven to face down the approaching threat.  
Steven thought to himself “If what he said is true then I should have at least some power over this place too.”  
Steven leaped into the air as the ground gave way below him leaving an empty void to surround him. As he was floating the sky suddenly turned black and rain started to pour down and the organ music began to play once again. Below him, Steven could see the mansion and its thousands of hallways flying upwards with its roof missing, towards him. Steven quickly put up a shield below him and he roughly slammed into the carpeted floor.  
He looked up at the stormy sky above him when he spotted the roof falling incredibly quickly and it landed with a thunderous bang on top of the mansion.  
“I need a way out of here!” said Steven when he noticed a Rose Quarts designed door at the end of the hall as the Gem in his stomach began to glow.  
Steven then heard a booming voice coming from everywhere around him “Even if you escape now, the next time you fall asleep I’ll be sure I get you. How long do you think you can go without sleeping, Steven? I give it 3 days.”  
Steven made a break for the door but the hallway began to roll. He still made his way forward but different fancy pieces of furniture began falling all around him impeding his path. Steven struggled to climb over a wooden makeup desk when he could see the door was so close he reached his arm out to try and touch the door as he began to become more and more pinned with furniture. Eventually, all that stuck out from the pile was Stevens's arm as he managed to touch the door handle right as a velvet chair fell where his arm was. The moment he touched the door handle he saw a bright light and opened his eyes to the sight of all the Crystal Gems with their weapons drawn surrounded by many angry-looking Gem’s.


	8. Loyalist

“Alright hand him over.” said an angry-looking Ruby.  
“I don’t think so!” Pearl said, raising her weapon at the Gem.  
Steven quickly got to his feet looking around at the Homeworld kindergarten which he had escaped from not too long ago and said “Hey, wait we don’t need to fight. We weren’t the ones who attacked Homeworld.”  
“I know exactly who you are, Steven Universe's so-called savior of the universe,” said Ruby.  
“Wait then why do you want to fight me?” asked Steven confused.  
A voice from the back called out “Cause ya duped all of Homeworld into loving you instead of us Gem’s who just want another order from the Diamonds. Once we take you out the Diamonds will certainly go back to how they used to be.” and Bluebird walked in the front of the crowd.  
“No they want to be the way they are and I think we have bigger issues to worry about right now. Don’t you think we should be working together to deal with The Forge? I mean they’re a much bigger threat to the Diamonds than I ever was.” said Steven, distressed.  
“And miss our chance to take you on, on our turf! I don’t think so! Get them!” Bluebird called out.  
“Well, I guess we’re doing this,” Steven said, resigning to fight. He floated a few feet up into the air turning pink but he still had a normal expression.  
The Gem’s collapsed inwards, each Crystal Gem member having to fight off a couple at a time.  
Pearl was swinging her spear pushing the constant pile of Gems surrounding her, Garnet was knocking as many as she could away with her gauntlets but more kept jumping up from behind and Amethyst was cracking her whip in every direction almost wildly.  
“Steven help please!” Connie said a dogpile of different Rubies on top of her.   
Steven waved his hand creating a hexagonal pink barrier and moved it pushing all the Rubies away. Connie gave a nod and kept swinging into the crowd.  
One Pearl tried to jump at Steven but he quickly surrounded himself with pink barriers before she could even touch him.  
Peridot was throwing random bits of scrap metal at a slowly approaching crowd who seemed mildly annoyed by it, Bismuth was swinging using her hands at hammers taking out swaths of the crowd as she did, and Lapis was flying where they couldn’t reach her just kind of kicking where she could and dodging when she could as there was no water around.  
Steven then began to notice all of them were being slowly overwhelmed and said “Enough is enough!” and using hexagonal shields pushed out the Loyalist Gems and formed a dome around the Crystal Gems.  
“Come on out you cowards!” Bluebird yelled sticking out her tongue.  
The rest of the Crystal Gem’s sheathed their weapons and Steven floated down to the ground and walked right up the other side of the barrier and said “This is just silly. You know that The Forge took the Diamonds right? If we don’t do something about it they're going to have them forever which I imagine is a whole lot worse than Homeworld liking me.”  
“Wait, they got the Diamonds?! Well, this certainly changes things a bit.” Bluebird said troubled.  
“Well fiiiiiiine I guess we won’t kill you right now,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You’re just gonna help us deal with this little issue for our Diamonds then we’re back to hating you, got it?”  
Steven, a bit relieved and with a bit of a smile, said: “Got it.”  
“Well if you're gonna join us might as well follow me,” said Bluebird turning the other direction.  
Steven lowered the bubble and his skin returned to its normal color. As they followed Bluebird the Gem’s parting the way for them gave them all dirty looks and Peridot gave a concerned and anxious look back at them.  
“Welcome to the Lair of the Loyalist!” Bluebird shouted gesturing to a massive cavern, one without silhouettes in the walls and computer monitors and various detectors all over the place. They had at least 20 ships in the back of all kinds of Gem design.  
All the Crystal Gem’s looked around the room in awe.   
“Now Steven, you're going to need to thoroughly explain what's going on,” Bluebird said, turning to Steven.  
Steven gave a look like he knew he needed to but wasn’t exactly looking forward to explaining everything and said “You guys come over here. You’re going to want to hear this too.”  
After a very long explanation, they all just sat there shocked.  
They sat there for a while before Lapis said “So… we were made by this guy?” confused.  
“He exists only in dreams?” Amethyst said confused as well.  
“He wants to fuse the Diamonds!?” Peridot said putting her hands up to her cheeks in shock.  
“Well...yeah,” said Steven.  
“Well we’ve certainly dealt with stranger situations,” said Peridot.  
“We should come up with a plan if we're both going to take them out and get the Diamonds back,” Garnet said firmly.  
“Alright, it's me they want to complete and form Graphene. We should have a final stand on the beach while Bluebird takes her forces and strikes from behind!”  
“It’s a dumb plan but whatever,” Bluebird said with a huff.  
“We should go now before they show up here before we’re ready. Remember it's for the Diamonds.” Steven said with a smile.   
They began to make their way back to where they had originally fallen in.  
Using a barrier he lifted all of them out of the hole and back into the ruined city.  
Pearl looked around with a slight expression of horror and said: “If they’re willing to do this to a whole gem population I can’t even imagine what they would do if they were subservient to them.”  
“Well we’re not going to let that happen,” said Connie with a determined expression.  
As they made their way to the ship Steven couldn’t help but feel a tang of embarrassment as he saw just how much destruction his outburst had caused alongside the attack.   
They all got aboard the ship taking their seats at various controls and Bismuth said: “Ready to head back to Earth?”  
Steven gave a resolved expression and said “Let’s do this.” before hitting the controls to take off.


	9. Conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of the end

They all sat in silence once again as the ship flew back to Earth. While the silence was deafening it was nice in a way to have a moment of calm among the storm.  
Peridot then banged on the hull of the ship with her hand and said “Steven, does this ever get to you? There are a few inches of metal then nothing for millions of miles in any direction. It's the only thing stopping us all from being thrown out. You were lost out in space for a while, right? How did you deal with that fear? That fear of failure.” with an anxious look.  
“If you spend your time thinking about all that could go wrong or how little we are compared to it all you’ll miss the good parts too. Your family, your friends, your home, hobbies, anything that can make you happy and you should remember why you're still going and still fighting to this day. The hardships are there so the good moments shine through even more.” said Steven back to his old enthusiastic self.  
Peridot gave a big smile and turned back to her controls.  
Everyone sat the rest of the trip in silence once again uncertain about the future despite Steven’s speech.  
“We’re here,” said Bismuth with a solemn expression.  
They landed right in front of the Gem Temple but despite finally being home again nobody felt settled.  
They all stepped out onto the beach. Steven then yelled “Alright everyone spread out! Just enough so we can help each other if needed but won’t get in each other’s way. Lapis, go get anyone who might be able to help us from Little Homeworld.”  
“On it!” Lapis said with a confident expression before flying off.  
While they waited for Lapis to come back the full sun had an unsettling presence that felt like they were being watched. It felt like the whole beach was ablaze by its light.  
Lapis landed back and said “Alright, Spinel and Jasper were the only two I could find around right now. They’re on their way.”  
Just then Lion ran behind Steven and he pets Lion’s head while smiling. “Where have you been this whole time buddy?”  
Spinel ran up, she had no tears in her eyes any longer and in its place was pure rage.  
“I’m ready to give those creeps a walloping for what they did on Homeworld!”  
Jasper showed up not far behind her saying “It’s about time you let me in on this,” she said with a huff.  
Steven then said “This isn’t about defending Earth or our home anymore. It’s about defending who we are as people. We’re going to fix this, not because we need to prove something to them or ourselves but because that’s how we’re going to move forward in life.”  
Suddenly above them, they heard a distinct booming sound, the one you would hear if an object traveling at high speeds suddenly stopped.  
They all looked up at the rusty dreadnaught hanging in the sky pointed directly at the beach. A booming yet energetic voice than began to be projected off of it “Steven! Good to see you again! You’re so small it was almost hard to find you! I feel like we spent so long apart I already miss you!” said Von.  
Just then, booming sounds were constantly being heard across the sky as more and more dreadnaughts appeared aiming directly at the beach.  
Everyone’s views kept darting to each newly appearing ship until nearly the whole sky was full of them.  
Von’s voice once again boomed coming out of the ship. “Hephaistos filled me in on exactly what I missed while I was out having a meeting with the Diamonds! Haven't you been looking forward to this?! All of my crew vs. you, your entourage of living weapons, and one tiny human with a sword.” Connie gave a spiteful look at that comment. “I’m just pumped! The air is filled with tension, drama, character development! … and very soon the shards of your friends.” As the ships began to reveal slots for guns all across all of their hull’s aimed right at the beach.  
“It’s been fun but I’m done playing games. Fire, just remember we need Steven alive but none of the others matter.”  
All the ships’ cannons began glowing in unison. The wind began whipping up with all the energy being used.  
Everyone looked to Steven with a look of fear, and Amethyst said: “What are we going to do now?!”  
Steven took a stance bracing one foot behind him and raised both his hands to the air and began to glow pink. With a surefire look, he said “We hold our ground!” In that moment a single hexagonal shield appeared in the sky between the beach and the ships, then another linking up to it and very soon more and more shields filled the sky until it completely surrounded the beach to everyone’s shock and awe.  
Outside the shield explosion after explosion could be heard with blinding light and fire being all that could be seen from the inside.  
Steven’s face contorted in effort and pain as the shield maintained its form.  
The barrage continued as Connie ran to his side saying “We’ve got you! All of us!” as the rest of the Crystal Gem’s did the same.  
It lasted for about 10 agonizing seconds before the sounds finally stopped and Steven collapsed turning back to his normal color as the shield collapsed too.  
“Steven! Are you ok!?” asked Connie.  
“Um,” Steven gave a pained expression as he tried to get up but fell back down trying. “I think I need a sec.”  
Garnet looked up at the dreadnaught’s and said “Their cannon’s are down for now! They’re going to be sending soldiers any second now for Steven!”   
Right on queue hatches on the sides of the ship opened up and soldier after soldier wearing steel polished looking armor dropped down one by one in a line kicking up the sand as they each landed. They were as large as ever-looming at the same 9 feet as before with their broad shoulders. The sunlight gleamed off their armor.  
In unison, they drew their bladed batons all glowing with cyan energy. There were at least 100 of them and more kept dropping down. They all began to march in sync slowly, weapons by their sides.  
“We’ve got to protect Steven!” Garnet yelled. “It’s time to form Alexandrite!”   
Both Amethyst and Pearl looked towards Garnet and nodded in agreement before dancing over to her.  
In a glow of white light a form rose and Alexandrite where Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl just were. Letting out a puff of smoke and roar she charged forward. The others sensing their moment charged in after her all yelling.  
Steven looked up from his hands and knees to see Jasper beating any Forge soldier into the ground with her helmet blocking blows from all sides. Lion was using his roar to knock groups of soldiers to the ground. Spinel was stretching her arms from all the way back at the temple and punching whatever Forge soldier was closest, Lapis was smiling finally getting a chance to use her water powers and flying around creating giant water hands from the ocean and swatting at them.  
Steven gave a hopeful expression before realizing all of them were getting back up unphased. No one was taking them down for long. The ones by Alexandrite brushed off the ash before continuing their assault and the one’s Lapis was throwing into the ocean were quickly swimming back. Everyone else noticed this too.  
They all looked up after hearing a massive explosion to see one of the dreadnaughts with fire coming out of its back coming down into the water and tons of Gem’s ships flying around the others.  
Steven got up overjoyed once again and said “The Loyalist! You actually came through!”  
Bluebird flew out of one of the ships and down to Steven before and said “Of course we did silly. Cause we’re just that great.” before flying back into her ship.  
“You didn’t forget about us did you?!” said a voice behind Steven. He turned around towards the direction of Little Homeworld to see a whole crowd of the uncorrupted Gems running towards him all smiling.  
Steven turned back towards the ships of The Forge smiling with confidence and glowing pink once again.  
He floated up into the air and used shields to crush individual soldiers in an instant.   
He flew by Lapis giving her a high five as she smiled and used a giant water hand to crush a whole crowd of soldiers.  
The Crystal Gem’s seeing Steven not only ok and joining the fight but also the Loyalist and the uncorrupted Gems reinvigorated them. They were hitting harder, knocking them down where they didn’t get back up.  
Connie was valiantly swinging her blade managing to take down individual soldier after soldier.  
The uncorrupted Gems were going to work each pounding into any Forge soldiers they could get their hands on.  
The battle up by the ships was not going well, however. There were only a couple small Gem ships flying about and they were getting shot at by small cannons despite a couple of dreadnaughts that had been taken down and fallen into the water.  
They were all slowly taken out by getting down by one shot each.  
The last Gem ship crash-landed on the beach crushing a few soldiers along the way.  
Bluebird crawled out and unfused. Aquamarine then said, “Such cowards and cheaters hiding inside their ships!”  
Ruby looking even angrier than Aquamarine said: “I’m gonna punch them in their stupid faces!”  
Von’s booming voice can once again be heard coming from the main dreadnaught “Sorry about that Steven! You have my full focus now that those pests are gone! Now excuse me, I need to take your friends away again.”  
Steven could see the cannons on Von’s ship were powering up and realized he didn’t have the strength to form another shield so he said “Wait! You only need me right!? Well, I’ll surrender and form Graphene if you leave them alone!”  
“Hmmmmm, you drive a hard bargain but I accept!” said Von’s radiating with energy.  
Steven looked back to everyone that was fighting along with him and he could see them shaking their heads in disagreement.  
“No don’t! You know he’s lying!” yelled Alexandrite.  
“Steven please don’t leave us.” Spinel said.  
Steven put his head down and said: “I have to at least try.”  
Von appeared on the front of the ship and leaped down to the ground holding 3 massive Gem’s in an emerald bubble.  
Steven floated down to him and Von said “Now Steven do your thing.” taking a step back.”Oh and if you think about popping that bubble and releasing the Diamonds I gave my soldiers orders to fire.”  
Steven held the bubble in his hands with a pained expression and began to form into a white light alongside the other Gems in the bubble.  
It grew to a massive size far above the temple while everyone on the beach watched in awe.


	10. Graphene

Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, and Steven slid through the tunnel and they all landed gracefully on the floor of white Diamonds head. The four of them look to where White Diamond should have been.  
"Oh, Starlight, what are you doing crawling in here? You want your legs back? You want your planet back? Surely, you can understand why I can't let you leave. Look what you did to yourself last time." White Diamond tauntingly said. It wasn't White Diamond however, it was Hephaistos making a pose like White Diamond. Blue, Yellow, and White Diamond mimicked his actions like they were under his control and were all white. They all stared with his same expression.  
"White Diamond! My name is Steven Universe. I'm here to- Gah!" said Steven as he was interrupted by White Pearl jumping in front of his path. The pearl then said "My, my. We've been causing quite a scene, haven't we?" in tandem with Hephaistos.  
Steven then said "What have you done to them?! They're-... Wait. This isn't right."  
"Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" said Hephaistos. The other possessed Gems draw a finger to their lips and shush Steven. Hephaistos begins addressing the Diamonds flanking him, as they mirror his every gesture.  
"No! I'm not supposed to be here! Hephaistos I know this isn't real!" cried out Steven. At that moment the walls, the floor, and the Diamonds, everything but Hephaistos blurred and he returned to how Steven had remembered him. Steven could hear the sounds of an organ and rain once again.  
"Not so drawn into your fantasy are you? I was trying to make things easier for both of us. Give you a happy ending like you wanted. You defeat the Diamonds, change their ways, go home known as a savior and helper all throughout the Universe. You never know hardship like you did during your outburst and could even forget all about me. That's all you ever cared about, to just be known as a saint. You just have to be stubborn and make me fight you huh. Why can't you be more like the other Diamonds? If only you could see the simple fantasies that keep them trapped."  
"What... that isn't true. I care about the people around me, that's why I help!" said Steven, slightly distressed.  
"Have I lied to you about anything up to this point? I can see into your mind through your dreams, you can't lie to me." said Hephaistos in a much deeper and booming voice.  
Meanwhile on the Beach  
The white energy with Gem's of all the Diamonds kept rising until it finally formed at around 3 times the size of the Gem Temple. Graphene finally solidified, she had skin the color of silver and she had 4 golden eyes contrasting her skin with no pupils. On the top of her head was hair set in stone going down the length of her back, the same color as her skin. She also had 4 massive arms, two at her waist and two at their normal position.  
The soldiers all along the beach slowly walked back to it's edge closer to Graphene.  
"It is good to be back!" Graphene said stretching out her arms in a sound so loud that everyone on the beach had to cover their ears watching in shock. Graphene then looked down at the tiny figure on the beach and said "I don't think we've formally introduced ourselves." giving a great large and white smile. "I am Hephaistos! I'm finally back in this reality for good! I've picked through all of your memories so much that it's sometimes hard to remember that you actually exist." she said giving a hearty laugh that shook the ocean she stood in. Getting more serious she said "Now we did make a deal with Steven that if he surrendered I would leave all of you alone and so I will. I don't need to fight any of you puny Gem's, I already have what I need."  
"We can't let him take Steven, just like that!" said Alexandrite panicked. "Yeah! We're not done with you, you clod!" said Peridot angrily. Everyone looked up to her with angry expressions. Alexandrite then said "Alright Peridot, use your powers and bring anyone up who can't fly up, same goes for you Lapis." They both looked towards her and nodded in agreement.  
Graphene looking amused said "I had hoped you would say that. Soldiers stand down while I test out this new form."  
Meanwhile in Graphene's Mind  
"I don't care what you say, I'm not letting you mess with me any longer." said Steven with a determined look.  
"Oh really?" said Hephaistos looking amused. He suddenly disappeared into dust and the blurred walls and floors surrounding Steven took the shape of the halls of a fancy mansion along with carpeted floors and ornate walls with paintings.  
Steven called out "I need a way out of here!" but his Gem simply fizzled a bit.  
"Steven, did you really think you can pull the same trick twice?" said a booming voice from all around him. The walls began to close around him and Steven panicked, began to try and push against them to no avail. "Maybe it's better in the long run I have to fight you. If you're gone from this space there's a better chance I stay Graphene forever." said Hephaistos's voice once again.  
Steven in that moment had an epiphany, and his expression changed to a more calm one before saying "Just because you made me doesn't mean you know anything about me or deserve to control me."  
The mansion around Steven vanished leaving only the rain, the organ music to surround him. Hephaistos appeared in the sky-like area alongside Steven and said "I don't care about puny thoughts of a Gem like you."  
Steven then felt a pull as he was being dragged down to the void below but just before he lost his strength to resist it's pull he summoned his shield and threw it as Hephaistos hitting him squarely in the chin. The pull stopped as he reeled back with one hand on the spot that was struck. Steven smiled at the small victory and suddenly he realized they were standing on the beach in front of the Gem temple but no one but them was there.  
Hephaistos looked at Steven furiously but Steven just summoned his shield and began to run at him. Steven felt himself start to get slower and the slower the closer he got eventually coming to a crawl's pace right before reaching him. Hephaistos then smiled a sly smile and said: "Even if your Gem is powerful here thanks to my work, you alone, and alone you are weaker than me." Suddenly he backed up, holding his eye in pain falling backward.  
Meanwhile on the Beach  
Lapis wasted no time getting a bunch of the Gem's into water bubbles and began to fly up to Graphene's head. Peridot did the same except using pieces of metal scattered all over the beach.  
"This guy's nothing. We can do this," said Lapis smiling to Peridot and she gave one right back a bit more uncertain.  
Graphene lifted up one massive foot stomping into the ground leaving a massive crater on the beach right before everyone was taken off of it. Alexandrite managed to jump onto her leg and began crawling up. Graphene without a second thought and with lighting speed hit Alexandrite with full force causing her to unfuse and Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst to fall onto the beach. Graphene gave a smile as she noticed all the Gem's buzzing around her head. She clapped her hands together letting out a massive shockwave that caused Peridot and Lapis to lose focus and everyone began falling out of the air. Just when Graphene was about to clap with her second set of arms she put one hand up to her chin reeling back. Everyone looked up a bit surprised. "I think Steven might be fighting back in there!" yelled Amethyst from the beach. Everyone's expressions changed to be a bit more hopeful and they resumed their attack with Lapis and Peridot flying them back up.  
"Sir, this is going too far, we're going to help you." Von's booming voice once again came from his dreadnaught.  
Graphene put down her hand revealing a furious expression saying "Ground these Gem's into dust Von."  
The ships began using their small guns to fire at the Gem's flying around but due to their small size couldn't hit them being unable to use the largest one's in fear of hurting Graphene.  
Suddenly Connie on Lion's back jumped out of a portal yelling "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH" and struck Graphene right in the eye with her sword before falling through another portal.  
Before Graphene could react Lapis said "Yeah, that's the spirit Connie!" before launching all the Gem's she was carrying to each get individual strikes in the same spot.  
Graphene cried out in pain holding her eye and falling down in the water causing a massive wave to strike the beach below.  
Meanwhile in Graphene's Mind  
Steven looked at Hephaistos sitting on the sand gripping his eye a bit confused before saying "I didn't do that…" Steven's face lit up "My friends must be fighting you on the outside!"  
The beach around them changed to a burning forest with trees Steven didn't recognize. The trunks themselves were a light greyish color and the leaves at the top were shaped similarly to palm trees but the darkest green you could imagine. Most of them were on fire. Looking up revealed a whole fleet of Von's dreadnaught's blanketing the sky blotting out the very orange sun.  
Hephaistos got back to his feet brushing the remaining sand off his jacket and with a calmer expression said: "I wasn't going to take your world since we made a deal but your friends have made it absolutely necessary." He made a closing motion with his hands and the fire then began to leap off the trees flowing towards Steven but right before they could he pulled up his shield once again crouching beneath it sweating from the heat. Hephaistos walked up to Steven through the flames with a sinister expression.  
Meanwhile on the Beach  
The wave caused by Graphene slammed into the beach knocking a few of the Gem's on to the ground. Even lying down she was still larger than the Gem Temple. Graphene held one hand to her eye seething with rage before getting up to resume her attack. Taking her hand away revealed that the spot had fully healed at this point and her expression changed to a more confident one. "I think you Crystal Gem's need to back off." She then swung one giant hand directly into the statue above the House shattering the top of it. Pearl panicked, put her hands up to her face, and said "The Temple!"  
Garnet called out to Lapis who was flying around the head of Graphene and said "Lapis! She's causing too much damage! Can you try and contain her!?"  
Lapis quickly lowered the remaining people to the ground and with a bit of a pained expression said "I...think...I think I can." putting up water chains around Graphene's arms and legs.  
At that moment a white light began to form under the ocean floor and a giant hand took shape gripping around one of Graphene's legs preventing her from walking any closer to the beach.  
Graphene gave a smile before saying "No cluster, no single Lapis, no ragtag group of Gem's is enough to take me down. It took the full might of all four diamonds to just barely take me out last time but they're not here." before letting out another shockwave causing Lapis to get knocked out falling down to the beach and the cluster to become destabilized going back to its bubble. Graphene stepped onto the cliffside smashing the lighthouse under her heel causing a massive crater.  
Garnet called out to Peridot "Lapis is down! It's up to you to distract Graphene right now! We need to give Steven a chance!" Peridot gave a subtle nod before bringing a bunch of Gem's to resume their small attacks around Graphene's head.  
Meanwhile in Graphene's Mind  
Steven looked up at Hephaistos who was swatting around his head at nothing causing him to get distracted and for the flames around Steven to vanish. Steven realizing the opportunity jumped, striking Hephaistos right in the face causing him to fall back.  
Meanwhile on the Beach  
Graphene was suddenly knocked back into the water once again. Garnet gave a smile saying "That's just what we needed." under her breath. "Now Peridot! Bring everyone to her while she is down! This is our chance!"  
Peridot carried everyone who could still fight over to Graphene's body lying in the ocean.  
Everyone jumped onto her attacking any part they landed on.  
Meanwhile in Graphene's Mind  
Hephaistos gripped his stomach in pain just after Steven had landed his strike on him slowly backing up in the process. "I think it's time we said our goodbyes," Steven said before throwing his shield at a wide-eyed Hephaistos. The shield passed cleanly through him causing him to vanish into a small cloud of dust.  
Meanwhile on the Beach  
Everyone attacking Graphene's stomach heard a rumbling sound when all of a sudden there was a loud poof noise and Graphene's body vanished leaving the Diamonds 3 Gems and a passed out Steven to fall towards the ocean. Peridot quickly caught all 4 of them and brought them to the beach. The few dreadnaught's left in the sky slowly fell into the ocean with a loud crash. Steven opened his eyes to see everyone looking down at him and he smiled weakly saying "We did it right?" Garnet looked down at Steven with a slight smile and said: "I think we got him."  
Steven stood up a bit weakly looking at all the crashed ships in the ocean and with a laugh said: "I guess we have a lot of cleaning up to do."  
They could see a ton of various soldiers and different workers swimming out of the various ships towards the shore and everyone tensed for a fight.  
Von swam up to the shore crawling up the beach and looked at Steven and said "I...can finally talk like me. Steven, Hephaistos is gone, I'm no longer under his control."  
Steven relaxed a bit and said "Wait... he lied about not controlling The Forge...that also means he must really be gone. Well, we can set you guys up at Little Homeworld for the time being I suppose." Steven gave a look around at all the smiling faces of everyone he's helped throughout his time in Beach City and gave a large slightly teary smile going in for a group hug. After one slightly awkward hug later he said "I suppose I can stick around a little bit longer before heading back out on the road. You know, to help clean up and all."  
Pearl gave a teary-eyed smile and said: "That sounds wonderful."


	11. Story Insights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I give some insights into the details of the story.

I wanted to try and write a satisfying addition to the ending of the show with a similar feel despite the darker tone. I also wanted to expand the universe a bit while explaining some of the oddities. This is going to be a short little bonus chapter where I simply go over some of the inspirations, references, and some small details you may have missed in each chapter. I’m not going over everything but a lot of it.  
Chapter 1 - Intro: If you couldn’t tell the empty chair was meant for Pink Diamond in case of any threat to Homeworld. Interestingly enough this is the only time we hear the Diamonds talk.  
Chapter 2 - First Encounter: One of the biggest struggles when writing this was trying to get the feel of the characters just right and since this is the first chapter where I hint at that I rewatched a ton of clips of each character to try and get a feel for them. Originally the two guards that showed up were going to play a larger role in the story but I dropped the concept for Von. Oh, I also reintroduce Pink Steven here as a way of setting up his character arc later on and showing that the events of Future weren’t enough.  
Chapter 3 - Preparations: Writing Peridot was tough because I wanted her to act as comic relief but stay true to her character which is easy in theory but not the easiest in practice. Lighting was a big way I wanted to try and have the audience imagine each location so it was something I made sure to focus on. I further set up Steven’s conflict here as well about him thinking his conflicts were over with somewhat similar to the movie. I tried to address every major character so you were never left wondering where they were during all this.  
Chapter 4 - Confrontation: I was really excited to write this chapter as I was just excited to write the villains in this story. Having a big mystery alongside a charismatic villain is a good set up IMO. Despite the sheer amount of characters, I tried my best to give each one a moment to shine. One theme you’ll notice throughout the story is the contrast between the bright and colorful Gem’s compared to the rusty and industrial Forge which is exemplified here. This is the second major event of the story as well since Steven almost loses all his friends just barely managing to escape while being verbally berated. I went pretty far in terms of the insults but I didn’t want to make it not PG. Von also only knows all this because of Hephaistos being able to go through dreams and read minds. Two very big hints here are Von mentions that Hephaistos lives on in everyone’s dreams he meant that literally. Also when the Forge member wearing the Golden armor mentions talks about Homeworld not being stronger anymore it was referring to how The Gem’s had previously defeated The Forge.  
Chapter 5 - Devastation: This is the chapter right before Steven’s boiling point. One of the biggest points of this story is how many locations you visit going from Earth to the road to the Forges ship and even Homeworld. I also wanted to show that despite Steven’s screw-ups his friends are still there for him. I also introduce Spinel here despite the small role she plays, she informs us as to what happened on Homeworld and Steven sees it as a personal failure. I also still see the similarities to Future by putting up a wall to go to Homeworld.  
Chapter 6 - Breakdown: This is the head of Steven’s arc. Writing this chapter was tough since the show has given us so little on what Homeworld is like I had to imagine most of it. In the end, they are able to get to him and he learns to control his powers.  
Chapter 7 - Dreams: Easily my favorite chapter. This draws heavy inspiration from Hollow Knight to write this one. The mansions and gothic interior, having an ancient enemy locked away in a dream are all aspects of Hollow Knight I felt inspired by. I listened to a lot of Hollow Knight music while writing this story. Dreams have always been a big part of Steven Universe so this felt like a cool addition. The library Steven enters is a representation of every mind in the universe and the pink book is Steven’s but because he doesn’t have the power of Hephaistos he can’t read it. When Steven first meets Hephaistos he’s in a dream version of the forest Pink Diamond first decided to stop destroying Earth. This chapter is an important one as it serves as a way of understanding where this new faction fits into the world of Steven Universe without feeling tacked on.  
Chapter 8 Loyalist: This is most likely the least important chapter but served as a less intense chapter before the 2 part finale. I also just thought it would be a cool addition to the lore if the many Gems we see still not like Steven banded together against him. It also served to reintroduce Bluebird.  
Chapter 9 Conflict: The start of this chapter in which Peridot talks to Steven is actually a reference to Interstellar and I wanted to partially define what Steven had learned. I wanted this chapter to feel like a true finale. Everyone is here to help Steven against a threat even more powerful than the Diamonds to stop an even worse threat. Everyone has a part here and you could easily imagine them fighting on the beach together, not a couple of them versus Steven or Steven vs. White Diamond, a true everyone is together moment. It also served as a way of showing how powerful Steven had become thanks to his completed character arc.  
Chapter 10 Graphene: I chose the name Graphene as it is currently the strongest substance known to man. A fusion between all 4 diamonds seemed like a natural thing in the universe as they were 4 of a kind. One thing I wanted to make clear is that Graphene could have easily beaten all the Gems in the real world or just Steven alone but not together. One little detail is that while Hephaistos and Steven are in the dream realm and they travel to the alien planet, that was a memory of a planet Hephaistos had conquered. I thought a real fight and a trippy dream battle was the perfect way to end it. I decided against Steven having a final goodbye to everyone bit because I felt Future already did that well. The universe of Steven’s is forever changed as well thanks to the Forge refugees moving into Little Homeworld.


End file.
